Keep sharing good news without ads.
No description available
Dear God our Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for this morning. We thank you for bringing us here this morning safely we thank you for this place where we can gather and worship you and open your word and hear from you Lord.
We pray for those who are on the roads. We pray that you would give them safe traveling mercies as they come here and We commit this morning into your hands use it Lord for your honor and your glory. In Christ's name we pray.
Amen. Okay, so this evening I was supposed to be preaching from John chapter 7 and I do not know whether we will be meeting this evening but part of my Message this evening was to give an introduction before John 7 what happens?
Actually, let's just read John's chapter 7 verse 1. It says after these things Jesus walked in Galilee for he did not want to walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill him and If you start right there, you might be kind of wondering what was going on at this moment in Jesus ministry that the Jews Were seeking to kill him in Judea.
In fact, John chapter 7 is a very Interesting turning point in the ministry of Jesus if you look at John as a whole Jesus ministry starts off in John chapter 1 it kind of skyrockets all the way up to John chapter 6 and In John chapter 6 something very unique happens and after that The opposition that you have to Jesus ministry kind of increases over and over until when you come to John chapter 12 The doors are all closed it would seem for Jesus ministry Public ministry and John 13 and on you will see the ministry is very focused.
Jesus is teaching only his disciples and then that will lead up ultimately to the cross. But John chapter 1 to 6 are very very interesting. You know when you think of let's let's read John 1 1 in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God.
You have a description of Jesus Christ the Word of God Eternal with the Father you know in all the glory and splendor and majesty that it entails and Then in John chapter 7 verse 1 Jesus would not walk in Judea because the Jews were out to kill him you know it seems almost incongruous that the God the creator of this universe all things were made through him and For him and by him and here he is Not walking in Judea because there were some Jewish people who wanted to kill him.
How did this happen? Why did this happen? Why did God the second person of the Trinity the Son of God? Have to go through these Circumstances and I think a quick review of what happens in John 1 through 6 will not just instruct us the methods that Jesus Christ the Son of God took to come down to humble himself and become a man and go through Trials and temptations in every way as we have ourselves gone through for the express purpose of Saving you and me and I think when we recognize what Christ went through in all these chapters We will have a fresh understanding of the great love that the Father has upon us that he would send Jesus Christ down to earth.
So This next few minutes is going to be an overview of John chapter 1 to 6, but I want you to just if you can go back into First century Israel and try to see what this would really have meant on the ground when Christ was ministering to the people.
John chapter 1 verses 1 through 18 that's called. Does anybody know what it is called? John chapter 1 1 to 18. It's like a prologue. Basically, it's a quick summary of the entire book of John. It gives you if you want to read the book gospel of John.
John here is beginning the book and he's saying here's a quick summary of what you're going to get in this book eternal God Comes down to be with man. He was the light of the world, but he's rejected by the darkness.
But the darkness has yet not overcome it and then he concludes in verse 18 the God. Let me read that The only begotten son or in the NAS it should say the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the father.
He has declared him. The revelation of God we get only through Jesus Christ. And that's what Jesus has come to do is to reveal God the Father to us. So 1 through 18 is a summary. It's a it's a fact. Passage which I think you know, we could just spend a lot of time each was just understanding what it is.
And you can almost see parallels from 1 through 18 in the rest of the book, you know, here's what it talks about God. Jesus Christ being the light of the world. Jesus Christ being rejected. Jesus Christ revealing himself and revealing the father to the world.
Now the story itself begins in verse 19. Which of you maybe the younger ones here who have missed Sunday school. Which of you can tell me who came and talked about Jesus publicly first in Israel? Can any of the little ones say who which man?
Told others about Jesus before Jesus even started preaching. That's exactly right. John the Baptist in John chapter 1 verse 19 and all the way to. Actually all the way up to chapter 4 you will see John chapter 3.
You'll see John the Baptist present, but here you will see all the way until verse 37. You see the ministry of John the Baptist. John the Baptist cousin of Jesus he was called for this express purpose of preparing the way of the Lord and He comes baptizing and God Prepares the hearts of all the Israelites before Jesus comes and when Jesus when when John the Baptist baptizes He makes it very clear that he is not the one who is Who they are expecting the Messiah the Christ the anointed one.
He is the one who is coming before and preparing the hearts and minds of people and he says of Jesus. He says the Lamb of God. For the people of Israel that meant very clearly what? This Messiah the role was going to be the one who was going to come he was the one who was going to be the substitutionary atonement the sacrifice the one who will Bear the sins of all the people who would believe in him and he says in verse in the 29 Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
So Jesus Christ not yet revealed to the public. He comes and is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan and John the Baptist is is told by the father. This is the man because he sees the Spirit of God descending on him and he publicly Proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah first time Jesus enters the scene and the rest of chapter 1 you see the Very interesting means by which Jesus first disciples come to be John the Baptist.
Two of John the Baptist disciples switch camps. They are following John the Baptist until now. John the Baptist says Lamb of God. They drop everything and they follow Jesus. This is Andrew and John the beloved disciple.
The Apostle writes the book these two move out. Andrew goes and finds Peter and he says Messiah we found him. Brings Peter along. Jesus calls Philip. Philip drops everything goes and gets Nathanael and says come we might have found the one who is the Christ starts spreading, you know John chapter 1 you see the initial revelation of Jesus Christ and The early calling of the disciples these disciples are not yet Fully disciples you will see later on when Jesus calls them, you know He prays and he calls them the twelve disciples and then they follow him continually.
But this is the first contact initial contact that they have with Jesus and in John chapter 1 we see how These the ministry of Jesus starts off John chapter 2 we have A John chapter 1 is all in southern Israel.
It's in near Jerusalem in Judea in the in right where? John the Baptist is baptizing John chapter 2. Jesus goes back up not it's in Galilee he goes to Cana and you have the first miracle that G that is recorded where Jesus does for his disciples and Can somebody tell me quickly what the miracle at Cana was?
Yes, Steve, yeah, he changed the water into wine and the reason he did that was. That's exactly right a wedding ceremony wine has run out public embarrassment to the bridegroom. Jesus mother comes and says can you do something and Jesus says in my time?
I will and then he changes the water into wine. In fact, the miracle is very unique because Not everybody knew about it. The bridegroom didn't know about it. The master of ceremonies didn't know about it.
He says wow, you know, you kept the best wine to last but the disciples knew about it. They saw that this was not just a man with a lot of words he was someone very unique and also those people who drew the water and gave it to the.
To the man running the show they knew that this this was a miracle. But that was the first miracle that is recorded for us. It shows who Christ is he is not just Lord of the natural world. But also of the supernatural and the disciples now it says actually let's read that Verse 11 chapter 2 the beginning of science Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and Manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him.
So that's the first pub recorded ministry Miracle and then you see in the less rest of chapter 2 Jesus comes back down to Judea. He comes to a Passover With his now entourage of disciples and he clears the temple in clearing the temple.
He sees the temple being misused he sees selling of Cattle and doves in place where it shouldn't be and he calls them to question and he drives. Well before he calls him to question he drives out what shouldn't be done.
Overturns the tables of the money changes and then the Jewish authorities that the first confrontation Jesus has with the Jewish authorities they come and say what authority do you have to do these things and That bring up brings the first clash that Jesus has with the Jewish leadership in in his in Jerusalem.
Jesus says tear down this temple and in three days, I will build this up. The people have absolutely no idea what he's talking about they say it's taken us 48 years to build this temple and you're saying you'll build it up in three days and in fact most people don't understand what's going on because John records for us later when Jesus would die and rise from the dead.
They will remember these words and say that's what Jesus was talking about. The temple he was talking about was not just the physical temple the great grand Second temple built in Jerusalem where everybody had to come thrice a year from wherever you were and worship God here was the temple of Jesus Christ himself.
He was going to be the new way through which you have to worship in John 4 he will say it's no longer in Samaria or Jerusalem that you need to worship God, but In spirit and in truth and it is through Jesus Christ that you can worship now.
You can assume you can understand the kind of confusion that the people had. Think put yourself in the loot leaderships position. Here you are, you know trying to get all your cannons against this Radical Wild man who has come and disrupted your you know Profitable enterprise and he says something that makes very little sense.
Come on, tell me, you know why this is illegal. Give me the rabbi who says, you know, you can't use the outer courts for Sale and Jesus doesn't say any of that. He just says I am the way literally and That's what will start the confrontations.
That will escalate in John chapter 3 you see Nicodemus One of the leadership, but he sees that there is something true about this man. Maybe God is quickening his heart. He comes tries to curry favor with Jesus.
He says we know you're a man sent from God. Nobody else can do the things you're doing unless God were with him. But Jesus kind of cut straight down to the chase when he he says you must be born again otherwise, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven and Doesn't give him any slack at all.
He doesn't say well, thank you for your compliment. And how are you doing? No, it just says if you're not born again, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven can't enter it. Nothing you are outside you are an apostate and.
And then we have John 3 16 followed up by John the Baptist and his ministry and I think that's a very crucial Lesson that we have in the rest of John chapter 3 if you if you had to just meditate on one passage.
Well, I'm sure you've been it on a lot of passages on a day like this but one of the passages you would want to just study and just Reflect on is the second half of John chapter 3 if you read from verse 22 and on that will give you some of the problems Jesus faced but also a great and powerful Testimony of a man of God you see John the Baptist.
He was in power and Popularity everybody went out to to be Baptized by him. They recognized that this was a man of God and now Jesus and his disciples come and are baptizing. And the crowds as it were start to go to Jesus and John's disciples are thinking John John the Baptist.
Something is not right the guy you baptized. Everybody's going to him and John says Let's just read that He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him Rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.
Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease in fact in the time that we have today, we will probably just stop with this but as Believers as Salt and light in the world our Responsibility is exactly that Today the people in the world.
They don't go and see Jesus walking Down West Boylston Street. They don't see Jesus doing water into wine or Feeding the 5 ,000 what they see and here is these weird people called Christians with whom they live and work and see every day and Sometimes like John the Baptist Christians can be a little crazy, you know maybe it doesn't look like and fit like the rest of the world, but Soon enough if when God does his work in people's lives they would sense that there's something very different about you and me and They want to know why this person Just lost his job, you know got a car crash and and has health issues in the family, but There seems to be nothing that phases this person.
They know they just have six months or two years to die and they're not like everybody else, you know Fearful and afraid and terrified instead. They have a quiet confidence knowing that Everything would be fine.
How can everything be fine when everything that the rest of the world trusts in is falling apart? And When God uses us in the lives of those around us Because of what he has done within us We want to be careful that we have the same mindset that John the Baptist had.
John the Baptist was used mightily of God but there came a time when God was moving to a different focus in the life of Jesus and John the Baptist fully fully and completely understood that it was not about John the Baptist.
If the ministry of the John the Baptist was to just perish and die the next couple of days it made no difference. What needed to be done was God be glorified and to have that he needed to have the same focus on Jesus Christ.
So if Somebody comes to you and talks to you about Wow. How can you do these things? You know? I'll confess I I'm strongly tempted sometimes To go slow In explaining the reasons why because I think and if I say something a they're gonna think I'm weird be they're not gonna listen anymore.
I got to kind of put the brakes down. I got somebody the fish is in the net. Let's kind of take it easy. That's not John the Baptist. John the Baptist is extremely focused. His eyes are fixed upon Jesus the bridegroom and he must be the one who increases Give all the honor and glory to him because he is the one ultimately who saves.
We are just pointers we are just people whom God uses to share the good news to Proclaim Jesus Christ and Christ is the one who will ultimately save and that's exactly what? We will see Jesus doing here very quickly in the rest of the chapters.
John chapter 4. We see the ministry with the Samaritan woman a totally different than Nicodemus. Jesus just reaches down to her level gives her the truth proclaims to be the Messiah. You don't see that happening in in Jerusalem.
And you see both the Jew the Samaritan woman as well as the village coming to faith in Christ. Then you see another healing of a nobleman in John chapter 4. John chapter 5 is the context I think you need to remember for John chapter 7 Jesus heals an invalid on a Sabbath.
Seems almost Jesus looking for trouble, but Jesus has a purpose in Doing this healing and that will begin in actually John chapter 5 verse 16 for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he has done these things on the Sabbath and that seeking to kill him will just get worse when Jesus declares that he and the father are Related more intimately than any other man on earth can claim and end of chapter 5 Jerusalem's cut off for Jesus and John chapter 6 he goes up north.
He does the miracles amazing miracles everybody follows and you would just think okay, Jesus is going to just ride on this wave, but No, Jesus purpose is not to just showcase himself as a miracle worker.
But as the Savior and he will get down again to the heart of the issue and get rejected again in Galilee as well thousands of people follow him and then even his own disciples are having questions about what who this Jesus is and that will be the stage for John chapter 7.
In John chapter 7 Jesus is continuing to stay in Galilee. He doesn't go down to Jerusalem because the Jews there are actively seeking to kill him and You just wonder God of the universe born as a human being was Humbling enough from Philippians 2 why would God become man, but why under these circumstances go through these?
Terrible trials and opposition and There was a purpose and that purpose Was to declare himself not just as God in all its Glory, but also to show how he was the substitutionary atonement in its full and complete sense.
He was going to be a man just like you and me in every way yet Perfect, and he would be the one who would die on our behalf and he would go through trials and temptations of a magnitude that You and I cannot directly go through but now when we suffer our own trials and our own Droughts we can look back at Jesus and say, you know, we have a high priest Who has been tempted and tried in every way and he knows what you are going through and he's able to help you Go through those times.
So today as we close we just want to reflect on this goodness of our Savior and our great God and King Who chose to come down? For you and for me any questions before we close or comments. Okay, let's pray and close dear God our Heavenly Father we thank you for your love For us that you would send your son Jesus Christ we thank you for the great work of redemption that he has accomplished on our behalf and even this morning father that everything that we do here whether we sing or Pray or hear your word and especially Lord as we heard your hear your message preached.
We pray that our hearts and our minds would be fixed upon a great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Be exalted O Lord in all that we do here this morning. And we pray especially for those who are still on their way that you would bring them safely.
We also pray for those who can't make it that you would Enable them to worship you acceptably where they are in Christ name. We pray.